‘Argo’ Featurette: The Oscar Race Isn’t Over Yet

It wasn't but two weeks ago that 'Argo,' the Ben Affleck-directed hostage thriller, was considered a front-runner, and possible winner of Oscar gold. Two critics awards later, and now it's 'Zero Dark Thirty' that has taken its thunder, and possibly for good. But the race isn't over, and 'Argo' has just unleashed a featurette spotlighting how good it is.

We're still weeks away from this year's announcement of nominees (that happens January 10) and the big ceremony isn't until February 24, but 'Argo' just ran into an uphill climb. The big problem for the picture right now is that 'Zero Dark Thirty tells a similar sort of story about a real life event, but may have told it that much better. 'Argo' can at least feel good in that it's already made over $100 Million at the box office, but this looked to be a powerhouse not that long ago. Thunder stolen.

And with that January announcement, the film has a month to either return to favor, or hope that 'Zero Dark Thirty' becomes overrated. The field has narrowed, and though it's likely that 'Argo' will make the cut for best picture (especially given to the academy's now-flexible number of nominees), Affleck's going to have to contend with Quentin Tarantino, David O. Russell, Kathryn Bigelow, Steven Spielberg, Tom Hooper, and more for a best director Oscar. And right now, the five directors we just mentioned seem to have a better shot. We shall see. 'Argo' is still in theaters, and may get a re-release, depending on how many nominations it gets.